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OMFG WHY THE FUCK DO ENGLISH ISPS HAVE TO BE SO GODDAMN FUCKING RETARDED...WE HAVE TO BEG TO EVEN GET 120MBPS (COVERS VERY LITTLE OF THE UK) - 1/5 OF THE UK CAN BARELY EVEN GET A FUCKING STABLE 1MBPS CONNECTION BECAUSE ISPS WONT FUCKING RUN DECENT COPPER WIRE CONNECTIONS TO THESE PEOPLE, LETALONE FUCKING FIBRE OPTIC...MY ISP ARE SPENDING MILLIONS ADDING 20MBPS TO THEIR TOP PACKAGES, IGNORING ALL THOSE WHO CANT GET ANYTHING REMOTELY GOOD, LEAVING THEM WITH FUCKING UNSTABLE AS HELL INTERNET WHICH HAS SUPIDLY LOW CAPS (10GB/MONTH LIMIT IN MOST CASES!) WTF IS THIS SHIT

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No trees were harmed during the creation of this message. Millions of electrons, however, were terribly inconvenienced

"Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the things you can think up if only you try!" - Dr. Seuss

Connection speed is capped at "regular internet speeds" ("up to" 5mbs down/1Mbs up - but no indication of the lowest speed) on free version.

$300 up front & non-refundable if you upgrade to the faster speed later on

Lifetime guarantee = 7 year service commitment if Google decides to bail out

Privacy. Everything you do online will be data mined by Google. Count on it.

Bug Brother is watching you! As was alluded to earlier, don't even think of doing anything that may be illegal on Google's network. So bye-bye to "sharing" copyrighted media, ferquenting the warez torrents, hacker darknets, and many other things you may currently enjoy, depending on your personal tastes. And expect full behind the scenes "voluntary cooperation" with any government snooping requests regardless of any public hand wringing over it by Google.

But the single biggest catch I can see is simply waiting for it to be available in your locale.

It's pretty clever of Google. They're sure to face protests and outrage from all the other services and cable giants who want to keep their antiquated practices and pricing schemes going for as long as possible. Google just let the cat out of the bag and let people know what they could expect from a company that realizes it makes absolutely zero sense to price and treat digital data communications using the same economic and business models as analog communications uses.

Digital provides (or can provide) virtually infinite bandwidth. You don't need all the regulations, bandwidth caps, and technical safeguards that were formerly imposed to minimize distortion and signal degradation in non-digital telecommunications and radio signals. The cable companies and telcos (along with most of the regulatory agencies) are still ocked into the old analog voice communications mindset. And voice communications (both analog and digital) now represents only a 20% (and dropping) share of the actual signal being carried by these dinosaur-brained companies.

Nice marketing move. Create customer demand and political "pull" - and then move into the communities begging for it. Now lets see how well Comcast, Cablevision, and AT&T can lean on their political stooges to introduce regulatory hurdles to block it from happening...

And I wonder how much of this is to force other ISPs to follow suit. I think Google probably sees itself as limited by the limits ISPs put on their services. This way, they force them to be competitive, and after the market has changed, they bail if it isn't profitable enough or too much of a headache.

Bug Brother is watching you! As was alluded to earlier, don't even think of doing anything that may be illegal

Not that what you say is wrong... But it's my opinion that Google has done more to protect privacy than any of the telecom companies. The phone companies in particular seem to have completely rolled over, giving the keys to the network to the gov't without a whimper -- even though it was illegal to do so.

It looks to me like Google (a) doesn't just provide a network port for bulk tapping; and (b) vets each request for info. That's not as good as taking a stand for what's right, but it's a heck of a lot better than we get from ATT, Verizon, etc.

It looks to me like Google (a) doesn't just provide a network port for bulk tapping; and (b) vets each request for info. That's not as good as taking a stand for what's right, but it's a heck of a lot better than we get from ATT, Verizon, etc.

Agree. But it's only a matter of time before 'the powers that be' get the wording and constitutional overrides fully worked out. Once the laws are less 'ambiguously worded' Google will roll over. Which is the problem with not taking a stand for what's right. So while I agree with you that Google has done more, it's still more of a rear guard action IMO than a brave confrontation. Being more than a little cynical these days, I also suspect Google is more interested in doing what they think they can get away with rather than doing what they obviously know is right.

Note: Feel free to ignore the above. It's just my childhood rearing its pointy little head. We used to be required to take civics classes back then. Government sponsored public schools taught us how things were supposed to work, and what this country was supposed to be about. But that was before corporate greed and government paranoia derailed us. Small wonder they don't teach civics sny more.

And I wonder how much of this is to force other ISPs to follow suit. I think Google probably sees itself as limited by the limits ISPs put on their services. This way, they force them to be competitive, and after the market has changed, they bail if it isn't profitable enough or too much of a headache.

Connection speed is capped at "regular internet speeds" ("up to" 5mbs down/1Mbs up - but no indication of the lowest speed) on free version.

$300 up front & non-refundable if you upgrade to the faster speed later on

Lifetime guarantee = 7 year service commitment if Google decides to bail out

Privacy. Everything you do online will be data mined by Google. Count on it.

Bug Brother is watching you! As was alluded to earlier, don't even think of doing anything that may be illegal on Google's network. So bye-bye to "sharing" copyrighted media, ferquenting the warez torrents, hacker darknets, and many other things you may currently enjoy, depending on your personal tastes. And expect full behind the scenes "voluntary cooperation" with any government snooping requests regardless of any public hand wringing over it by Google.

But the single biggest catch I can see is simply waiting for it to be available in your locale.

300USD is pretty steep, but still it's 3USD/month for 7 years, which is what, 10 times better than the alternatives there?Privacy: I agree, but I'm not sure if the others aren't doing the same.What do you mean with "bug brother"? You think they'd be more strict than regular ISPs? Why?

I'm starting to agree with wraith808: looks like it's a market push, and they'll bail out if it doesn't work out well for them. At least the consumer is the only one who comes out winning, this time

It looks to me like Google (a) doesn't just provide a network port for bulk tapping; and (b) vets each request for info. That's not as good as taking a stand for what's right, but it's a heck of a lot better than we get from ATT, Verizon, etc.

Agree. But it's only a matter of time before 'the powers that be' get the wording and constitutional overrides fully worked out. Once the laws are less 'ambiguously worded' Google will roll over. Which is the problem with not taking a stand for what's right. So while I agree with you that Google has done more, it's still more of a rear guard action IMO than a brave confrontation. Being more than a little cynical these days, I also suspect Google is more interested in doing what they think they can get away with rather than doing what they obviously know is right.

So in short, their copious mound of freshly mined data is far to succulent a target for the alphabet soup crowd to pass up. Yes?

Connection speed is capped at "regular internet speeds" ("up to" 5mbs down/1Mbs up - but no indication of the lowest speed) on free version.

$300 up front & non-refundable if you upgrade to the faster speed later on

Lifetime guarantee = 7 year service commitment if Google decides to bail out

Privacy. Everything you do online will be data mined by Google. Count on it.

Bug Brother is watching you! As was alluded to earlier, don't even think of doing anything that may be illegal on Google's network. So bye-bye to "sharing" copyrighted media, ferquenting the warez torrents, hacker darknets, and many other things you may currently enjoy, depending on your personal tastes. And expect full behind the scenes "voluntary cooperation" with any government snooping requests regardless of any public hand wringing over it by Google.

But the single biggest catch I can see is simply waiting for it to be available in your locale.

300USD is pretty steep, but still it's 3USD/month for 7 years, which is what, 10 times better than the alternatives there?

It's only a one-time fee, and it's payable at $25 per month if you don't have it up front. After that it's "free." So considering most US subscribers pay between $25 and $40 per month for DSL or cable, it's a good deal.

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Privacy: I agree, but I'm not sure if the others aren't doing the same.

I don't think anybody has the ability, or technology, to mine and correlate web data better than Google does. And they have a track record of pushing the envelope when it comes to interpretations of what constitutes "reasonable protection" of individual privacy. Maybe not as bad as Facebook. But not all that much better.

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What do you mean with "bug brother"? You think they'd be more strict than regular ISPs? Why?

By 'Bug Brother' I mean "We're Watching You. Closely."

re: More strict: Yes I do. Especially if they're providing a free service to some (possibly many?) subscribers. Because every eye in the industry is going to be on them since they're pulling the rug out from under established businesses with their pricing model. The first mistake or serious problem and they'll be all over Google. If people did do illegal things on your network - and they aren't paying for the access - a good case could be made for "aiding and abetting" since you provided the means at no cost to the potential violator. It might even bring the whole "safe harbor" concept into question.

So yes...I think Google will ultimately become (or be forced to become) even more strict than what we're seeing from ISPs so far.

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I'm starting to agree with wraith808: looks like it's a market push, and they'll bail out if it doesn't work out well for them. At least the consumer is the only one who comes out winning, this time

So in short, their copious mound of freshly mined data is far to succulent a target for the alphabet soup crowd to pass up. Yes?

Pretty much. Google is in the problematic position of having a business based almost completely on monitoring web activity, compiling that information, and then selling it back to interested parties. So protecting an individual's privacy is not an intrinsically desirable thing for Google - even though creating the impression that there is privacy is good for their business.

Advertisers, political organizations, and others have been trying to figure out a way peek into people's lives, watch what they're doing, suss out what they're thinking, and predict their behaviors. With the advent of the web, the mechanism is finally in place to do that. It's just too big a temptation for Google to be completely on the up & up about it.

$3/month averaged over 7 years (Google Fiber)$6/month over 1 year (VPN with multiple exit gateways)

For $9/month I'd think you'd still be well ahead compared to a normal ISP, have some security against Google, (or at least no worse off than you already are), plus be better insulated against the MAFIAA and any Federal acronyms.

Sign me up!

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I do not need to control my anger ... people just need to stop pissing me off!